An Apostolic publication promoting balanced conservatism … "the finest of the wheat!"

1.The Prophetic Prelude

Celebration of the OT Birth of Israel as the People of God by the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, commemorated as SHAVUOT or Feast of Weeks, 7 complete weeks + 1 day after the Feast of the First Fruits.

Called by the Jews “The Feast of the Giving of the Torah”. It took 49 days for Israel to reach Mt. Sinai after leaving Egypt. The rabbis connected the significance of the Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai with their arrival there and commemorated the event on the 50th day after the Feast of the Firstfruits.

Leviticus 23:15-21

15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

16 even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.

17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven;they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.

18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.

19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.

21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

2. The Phenomenon

NT Birth of the Church in Acts 2:1-4, the fulfillment of the OT prophetic Jewish feast, when about 120 disciples of Jesus Christ were filled with the Holy Ghost in the Upper Room 50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

SHAVUOT or PENTECOST was 1 of 3 pilgrimage festivals in Israel.

Josephus estimates there were over 2.7 million Jews in Jerusalem at the Passover during the days of Nero.

Typically, Pentecost would have had far fewer people, but the year Jesus was crucified it is highly probable that most of that number would still have been in Jerusalem, or would have returned for the feast of Pentecost.

Acts 2:1-5

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

3. The Promise

Acts 1:4 … this outpouring of the Holy Ghost fulfilled Joel’s prophecy that in the last days the Lord would pour out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:16-21), referred to by Jesus as the Promise of the Father.

Acts 1:4-5

4 and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

4. The Power

Acts 1:8 Jesus said you would receive POWER after the Holy Ghost is come upon you.

Acts 1:8

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

And with GREAT POWER gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of Jesus throughout the book of Acts (Acts 4:33).

John 1:10-13

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he powerto become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

5. The Paradigm

Acts 2:38 Peter used the Keys of the Kingdom to establish the NT pattern or template for the Gospel Message Salvation Experience of the New Birth.

John 3:1-8

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.